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Pre-Christmas Winter Storm Potential


Chicago Storm

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Had the 3-4" sleet event here a few years back...But still have not seen a legit ice storm. I'd be all for it.

 

I've actually been a fan of the ice storms I lived through in Oklahoma.  There was nothing quite like waking up at 4am with a thunderstorm at 27 degrees.  Resulted in this:

 

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/images/Ice_Storm4_jpg_image.html

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We had a real bad ice storm here back in Dec '94 with 3/4-1" of glazing.  No power for a few days.  From a met standpoint it was fascinating, but the damage it does and being without power is a pain in the arse to deal with. 

 

 

What were your temps prior to and during the event? Here in the city, we have a hard time getting much under 31/32 with a NE flow. The best ice events seem to have surface temps in the upper 20s.

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We don't do sleet well here along the lake....lots of rain to (light) snow events, not too many heavy ip/zr events.

 

There are a ton of changes in store...really interested to see how this double barrel type scenario evolves but right now this is looking like a classic heavy rain to 1-4" of cement for the city proper. EDIT: not final call :)

Thinking about it I have seen several big ZR events here but IP events are not common here either.  I don't recall any major IP event IMBY...

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I remember some great ice events growing up out in the burbs, things are clearly different now that i'm in the city. 

 

No doubt.

 

The only good one that I know of here in "recent" times was back in the mid-90's. The city is a different story...very few sig events there since 1950-ish.

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One note I will add about icing potential is that temperatures in the low 30s won't cut it for a fzra event with how heavy the precipitation will be falling. I have seen several heavy rain events at 30 and 31 degreees that provide little ice accretion due to the intensity. Temperatures typically need to be in the upper 20s for a significant ice storm with heavy precip.

Edit: Alek beat me to it!

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Chicago, IL has a unique geography for freezing-rain events. The city's proximity to Lake Michigan and its urban environment have significant impacts on freezing-rain by creating warmer air temperatures that prevent rain from freezing at the surface. Chicago annually has fewer freezing-rain events compared to areas outside of the city, and there is a one- month delay in the timing of the first freezing-rain event for any given year.

Historically, the number of annual freezing-rain events across the Great Lakes has decreased, and Chicago typically experiences some of the fewest events in the

region. On average Chicago experiences less than three events per year, and the most events ever experienced in one year was seven. 

http://glisaclimate.org/sites/default/files/Freezing%20Rain%20in%20the%20Great%20Lakes%20(6.7.13)_0.pdf

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I guess we will have to agree to disagree. The temps are forecast to be not too far above freezing. The snow still has probably 0.7" water content in it so that is sustaining power. I can tell you that we are FULLY on the same page with your last two sentences - Now this all depends if it's all a rain event.  Hopefully we don't have to find out. :)

I will agree with you Josh if my current temp forecast holds. 

 

It really depends on how warm it gets outside.  Rain and low to mid 30s just compacts the snow but does not melt it quickly.  It seems like once you start getting in the upper 30s and above the snow starts taking a beating more and more quickly (obviously).

 

It will really matter how long it stays above freezing and how warm it truly gets.

 

Right now we don't know what is really going to happen so we could just end up with a solid hard pack snow with lots of wonderful new snow on top OR it will be brown and ugly.  The fun right now is just tracking and guessing!!!

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What were your temps prior to and during the event? Here in the city, we have a hard time getting much under 31/32 with a NE flow. The best ice events seem to have surface temps in the upper 20s.

 

 

IIRC surface temps were fairly marginal, but it was enough to get the job done.  During the height of the storm it was raining hard enough that there was a lot of standing water around.  Seemed like most of the ice accumulated on elevated surfaces, like trees etc.

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IIRC surface temps were fairly marginal, but it was enough to get the job done.  During the height of the storm it was raining hard enough that there was a lot of standing water around.  Seemed like most of the ice accumulated on elevated surfaces, like trees etc.

 

 

makes sense, especially given extremewx52's post. I think it's safe to say precipitation rates should be pretty high this go around.

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We had a real bad ice storm here back in Dec '94 with 3/4-1" of glazing.  No power for a few days.  From a met standpoint it was fascinating, but the damage it does and being without power is a pain in the arse to deal with. 

That '94 event is the same one I mentioned above. The last good ice storm here...But I was much too young to remember it.

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